A Heart of Ice
by Stardarkangel
Summary: When Tooru runs into the infamous gang, The Junnishi, then plunges into a gang war, things start to heat up. How can she melt their cold leader, Yuki's, heart? YT KK and more..Ch 4 finally up !
1. From Flashbacks We Begin

A/N: I know that most of you guys are dying for me to finish "For a Perfect Dance" but I got motivated to write a fic about gangs. I haven't seen any fics in the Fruits Basket portion of FF.net that threw the Fruits Basket cast into a gang scenario. I want to be the one to do it! ^_^ I hope you'll still enjoy the story just the same, I put a lotta thought into this! 

Just to clarify, I'm not going to be putting the curse into this because the story in my head is complicated enough as it is, and I've altered the storyline a bit, as in, Tooru didn't live with the Souma's in her first years of high school. Other than that, it's nearly the same. 

There is a reaccuring OC in this story though, Souma Akisa, from my other fic "Perfect Stranger" and her personality is basically the same. 

The pairings of this story (eventually) for future reference are: Yuki/Tooru Kyou/Kagura Haru/Akisa Hiro/Kisa  ….. If I think of anymore I'll add it in the author's notes in the later chapters.

Okay, enough of author's babbling of important-must-know-information and on with the story:

A Heart of Ice

By: Stardustangel

Chapter One: From Flashbacks We Begin 

Making my way across the cold, wet ground I watched the cold rain pour down on all sides, the eternal silence seems to be closing in. The heavy droplets of rain battered my umbrella as I made my way to my beloved mother's grave. Despite the weather, I was happy and content. After years of battling with fate I had finally regained peace. 

"Okaasan….okaasan, it's me, Tooru. I'm back. I'm sorry that I haven't being able to visit for such a long time. I'm sure that after you've listened to my story, you'll understand. But then, you must have been watching in on me from the heavens. In that case, I'm sure that you all the things that had happened so far." 

"But…. I still want to tell the tale again, to make sure that it wasn't a dream, to make sure that it was real. I don't know how many times I've woken up questioning reality, then sinking back in relief to realize that it was indeed real and that I didn't suffer for a fantasy. The bad and the good things that happened…. The bad we have left behind, hopefully, and the good is here with more to come tomorrow." 

Then I paused, looking at the rainy sky, traveling back into the past, back into blessed ignorance, back into innocence, back into the old high school days…

+:.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.:+

"TOORU!!!! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!!!!" screamed Uotani Arisa from outside the front door of the apartment complex. "COM'MON ALREADY!! HAIAKU!!!!!"

"Wahhh!!! I'm going to be late for school!!" a deranged 17-year old Honda Tooru exclaimed launching herself out of the front door and running into the awaiting Uotani.

"First day and already late? I wonder what our teachers would think of us." Uotani mused.

"Don't say things like that!" Tooru replied exasperated. They were starting their senior year in high school on the wrong foot already and she really didn't want things to get any worse. After her mother died, Uo-chan had insisted that Tooru moves in with her and live in her apartment since her father was mostly out of the house anyway. Now things were back in routine after the shock of her mother's passing. 'This is how things will always be' Tooru thought, 'school, work, home, dinner, homework, sleep.' 

She didn't know just how wrong she was about to become and how disorderly her life would turn out to be.

+.:~ At the Souma House a little earlier on ~:.+

"Ne, Yun-chan. Do we really have to go to school?" Kagura asked absentmindedly as she pulled on her jacket knowing fully of what the answer would be. (I'm pretending that Kagura is the same age as Yuki and Kyou because the story would be far more exciting that way. Think about the possibilities! Kagura in the same school and Kyou? *maniacal laughing behind the keyboard, the crowd sweatdrops*)

"We are going because we are still under 18 and the law states that we have to be in school, plus, in a public high school we can have a taste of what a normal life should be." Yuki irritably replied for the umpteenth time.

"But we've gone against the law before right? Plus school isn't that big of a deal."

"You're going."

"Fine." Kagura pouted as Kyou walked into the living room. "At least I get to spend more time with MY Kyou. The other girls wouldn't have a chance" she possessively stated then proceeded to giggle madly.

'I bet' Yuki thought.

"OHAYO KYOU-KUN!!!!!!!" screamed the girl with a smile on her face as the presence of the unfortunate neko that she loved so very much drew nearer. In her hurry to grab him, Kagura nearly tripped on Yuki's not-yet-put-on shoe and fell on (guess who?) Kyou and taking him down with her. A thunderous crash rang through the room as they came upon impact with the floor. Akisa, Momiji, Haru, Kisa, and Hiro walked into the room to see what the disturbance was all about.

"Looks like Kagura is picking on Kyou again!" the rabbit stated with a smile on his face.

"Geez, and you would think that they would give us peace in the mornings. A person can't always put up with noise you know. I can believe that you're so inconsiderate, you don't even pay rent, and you're still trashing it like if it was yours." was the annoyed reply that Hiro threw at the sight in front of him.

"SHUT UP!!!! WHY ARE YOU GUYS ALL CROWDED HERE?! GO AWAY! And Kagura, GET OFF OF ME!!" And the neko tried to loosen the death-grip of the boar.

"Kagura-niichan….are you okay?"

Sighing as she got off of the struggling Kyou, "Yeah, I'm fine Kisa-chan".

Hatori walks into the room and took one look at the scene in front of him and frowned slightly though these types of things were ordinary occurrences. 

"Shouldn't you be on your way to your new school? It's the first day and I don't want all of you to be late" he said calmly as he pointed at the wall clock. "It will make a bad impression on the Souma name, besides; all of you have important things to be doing after school. Akito and the rest of us won't be too please if you get detained by having to serve detention." The last statement was directed mainly in Kyou, Kagura, and Haru's direction.

"Hatori's right, if we don't get moving, we won't make it to class on time. I'm leaving."

"Hey! Wait for the rest of us!" shouted Kagura at Yuki's quickly moving form as she dashed out of the front door to catch up with the rest of the school going jyunnishi at her tail.

A/N: So? How did you like it? ^_^ Don't worry, this is just the beginning. In comes the gangs in the next chapter and let the fun begin!!!!! I'm crazy! Reviews to speed my hands to type the next chapter will be much appreciated! 


	2. Meeting the Rumored

Author's Notes: MUAHAHAHA!!! I'm back to mess with our kawaii Fruits Basket characters and their lives again!!! ^_^ Miss me? *silence follows* Aaanyways…. Here's the next wonderful chapter, longer than the last cause of the wonderfull reviews! Thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews and telling me about my niichan to neechan mistake! Reveiws make the world go round!! ^_^

A Heart of Ice

By: Stardustangel

Chapter Two: Meeting the Rumored

+.:~ At the School ~:.+

"Wow! We made it! And with a few minutes to spare too! It's so nice to spend another refreshing year on this beautiful campus!"

"Whatever" answered Uotani with a casual wave of her hand, "I just want to finally graduate and get out of this place. Seeing this campus for three years is far more than enough for me."

"Look! There's Hana-chan!" Tooru exclaimed as her gaze pinpointed their other best friend. "Let's go say hello!"

They weaved their way skillfully through the other students who were slowly migrating to their rightful classrooms and finally ended up where their always patient friend, Hanajima Saki was standing. After greetings and chatting a few words, Tooru started to sense a difference in the school atmosphere. 

"Anou, Hana-chan? Why is everybody whispering for the most part and glancing around nervously?"

"Yeah, why? We just got here so we have no clue, but you've been standing here for a while, what's going on?"

"People are talking about a new gang transferring into this area, and rumors have it that they plan on attending this school.  Although the details are still unclear to me, I've gathered that they call themselves, The Jyunnishi."

Standing there with nervous expectance, the trio managed to find out much more by listening to the hoards of people in the courtyard madly whispering.

"Are they really coming?"

"Yeah…."

"How scary!"

"Shh…..lest they here you!"

"But they aren't even here yet!"

"Hey, I heard from my friend that lives in the town south that the Jyunnishi are really secretive."

"Yeah, they usually keep to themselves, so I've heard."

"They're also really picky about who they let in."

"Elite, eh?"

"_I've heard that the guys in it are really cute!"_

"To _die for"_

"Wow…."

"I can't wait to see them."

"I can, gangs are so freaky."

"Don't be such a wuss, having a gang here would be awesome."

"Did you hear about their way of identification?"

"Oh! My cousin told me that the members all have rings of different metals to prove their rankings!"

"Rings?"

" *nods* Bronze for the normal members, silver for the elite, and the leader has a pure gold one!"

"Gold! Wow… must have been expensive."

"Forget expensive, their leader has looks that can kill! I got a glimpse of him once when he left a public building and stepped into an awaiting BMW. My mind totally went one tracked and I nearly tripped on a crack in the sidewalk! I was so lucky that I didn't keel over!"

"Oh, MY GOD! WHAT DID HE LOOK LIKE!! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

"He had light bluish- purplish hair and the most gorgeous violet eyes on this planet."

"!"

"He's also tall, has a pale complexion, and a slight build!"

"My goodness! You make him sound so perfect!"

"He is."

With that, the school yard went silent as a new group of students entered the premises led by a pale boy with light hair.

"IT'S HIM!" Somebody whispered furiously, and the soft murmur of whispers started again, the cold violet eyes however, paid them no heed.

When the sudden hush came about, Tooru, Uotani, and Hanajima all turned to see a group of never before seen students enter. 

"So those must be The Jyunnishi, they don't look that tough."

"But looks can be deceiving."

"Hai. Uo-chan, Hana-chan is right, you can never judge a person by their appearances." 

As the group made their way past the hoards of gaping people and into the building, possibly to get their schedules, Tooru finally got a clear view of the talked of gang. There were eight of them present, three girls and five guys. 

In the front was a pale youth that she recognized immediately as the leader that all the girls at the school were busy describing, he was handsome indeed she thought, but had the coldest eyes. 'Like ice' 

Following behind him was a girl with black hair that covered her shoulders and ran down part of her back and eyes of midnight blue that looked unseeingly at the world; she followed the leader's example of ignoring the whispers and murmurs. Tooru thought in awe that she was beautiful in an unearthly way; she had an aura of the moon, pale and radiating. Walking beside her was a boy with a bored look and the most bizarre white and black hair you ever saw. His body was decorated with unusual pieces of jewelry.

Behind them came a girl with cute brown eyes and brown hair that looked at the audience with much amusement as she clung onto a boy with firey orange hair and an annoyed tough look. The boy looked like he was trying to shake her off his arm with no avail.

Bringing up the end was a trio of mixed company. A genki looking young boy with brown cheerful eyes, bright yellow hair and a smile to match accompanied another boy and a girl. The girl's eyes held a mixture of fear and curiosity unvoiced while goldenrod hair framed her gentle looking face. The boy however had light brown hair and a look in his dark brown eyes that held an 'I'm-superior-to-you' sign.

At once Tooru could tell that they were indeed different from everyday students, for even though they were very much different from each other, they all seem to have a similar emotional bruise. And yes, they all indeed have the rumored rings upon their fingers seven silver and one gold bands flash subtly in the clear morning sun.

The unexpected bell rang, knocking the students back into reality as they all raced to their first period classroom.

A/N: So so , what did you think? I know, this is still intro but I swear that there is action in the next chapter, havoc of the after school mission that Akito and Co. have planned……

*****Short Preview:*******

"Do we have to do this?"  

"Yes"

"But…. What if they catch us?"

"OH MY GOD! WATCH YOUR BACK!" 

"WE'LL HAVE TO RUN THIS RED LIGHT!"

"SHE'S GONNA GET HIT!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hehe, I'm evil. Well review and see what happens to our dear gang next. ^_^ Authors practically live on reviews because there is no other way for us to know your thoughts on the story so do me a favor and click the nice (purplish- bluish O.o) button!!! ^_^ ^_^ ^_^


	3. Changing of Plans

A/N: GOMENASI!!!!!!!!!!!! Gomen gomen gomen! I'm soooo sorry for making all of you guys wait so long, I've just been so busy, even now. So to make up for the late-ness and all the really wonderful and inspiring reviews that I've received, this is an extra extra long chapter! *beams* I'm so proud of myself, I promised you guys some action and here it is! Don't worry, I have even bigger plans in the future! *cackles* Please enjoy this chapter and drop me a review!

A Heart of Ice

By: Stardustangel

Chapter Three: Changing of Plans

+.:~ In the Trio's (Tooru, Hanajima, Uotani) 1st Period classroom ~:.+

All the students went to their respective seats as the teacher entered.

"Class, today we have some new students that transferred from a nearby district, please come in…"

Squeals could be heard from several girls as four figures walked calmly into the room.

"Class, this is Souma Yuki, Souma Akisa, Souma Kyou, and Souma Kagura."

"Ohayo, my name is Souma Yuki, please to make your acquaintance".

"Ohayo, my name is Souma Akisa, please to meet you".

"Souma Kyou, morning." 

"My name is Souma Kagura; it's a pleasure to meet you, OHAYO!"

"Yuki can sit……." "Sit next to Honda-san please. Honda Tooru, please raise your hand."

All the girls, except for her friends, glared at her with anger flashing in their eyes and Tooru shrunk a little in her seat as she timidly raised her hand and Souma Yuki started to walk her way.

After the seating which ended up with Kyou and Kagura sitting next to each other much to Kyou's demise and Kagura's delight "This is going to be SUCH a fun year!!! I get to be with my Kyou all I want!!"  The whole class sweatdrops silently.

"Okay class, back to math. Today we will learn ………….."

+.:~ Lunchtime ~:.+

"Yahoo! It's FINALLY lunch! I thought I would starve to death before lunch break came, and our baka sensei wouldn't stop ranting about permutations and combination……………. or something like that."

Tooru smiled at Uotani's daily comments then added her own to improve the current atmosphere, "The weather is nice though, let's eat under a tree today!" and she proceeds to walk cheerfully towards a patch of numerous trees with Uotani and Hanajima in the tow. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"KYOU-KUN!!! I MADE YOU A DELICIOUS BENTO!!!" Kagura pounced on an unwary Kyou to deliver his lunch.

"AHH!"

Kagura proceeds to pound Kyou on the head once, "Is that what you say to your beloved girlfriend who made you lunch with all her heart?"

"YOU'RE NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Don't be silly!" Opening up the bento Kagura selected a squid, "Here! Eat!" and shoves it 'gently' into Kyou's screaming mouth.

"Mowahowe……!"

"See! I knew that I was a good cook" 

Hearts appear from nowhere and the rest of the crew sweatdrops. Pulling out their own lunches the group settle themselves on the grass and under the protection of the tree leaves begin to eat, trying very hard to block out Kyou's protesting cries as Kagura force feeds him lunch. 

"Shut up baka neko! We're getting stares from half of the people also eating here. I for one, would like to eat without people gawking."

"That's a little late Yuki" 

"Why is that Akisa?" asked Yuki more than a little annoyed at the fact that his cousin was making such a big scene.

"You will always have people gawking at you as long as you live" Akisa said with a slight smirk, then she put on a fake high voice that she reserves for Yuki, much to his dismay, "You're so beautiful Souma-kun!" "Souma-kun, can you help me?" "Souma-kun's so handsome"

"You can stop now….." replied a thoroughly annoyed yet amused Yuki. 'They really acted like that all the time, trying to get his attention and flirting with him.' He mused upon Akisa's perfected reenacting of the poor, lost girls. Normally, he would find their antics annoying but he knew that Akisa was doing this on purpose to annoy him. It was especially amusing because she would never be caught dead flirting with anybody. Akisa encloses herself in ice when in public and only lets loose around her close cousins. 'Of course' his mind told him, 'There's a reason that she's Akito's sister'. 'Yes', his other side agreed, 'But she is far kinder when you compare them and a loyal friend'

"Hey isn't that the girl that sits next to Yun-chan in class?"

Jolting out of his thoughts and cutting his stroll down memory lane short, Yuki looked to where Kagura's finger was currently pointing. It was indeed Tooru and her friends. 'Her friends are odd people…' they were a yankee and a girl with psychic powers from what he gathered for the chatter of his classmates.

"I'm gonna go say hi. Does anybody want to come with me?"

"Me me me!!"

"No" Haru said flatly, "although you're a nice cheerful person, your hyperactive-ness might scare people. We don't want to start scaring people on our first day……………………. Maybe it's okay to start tomorrow though……………….."

Giving Haru a weird look, "Kagura will go alone, it's just a greeting, there's no need for a crowd."

"K k! Be back shortly Yun-chan, KYOU-KUN!"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Ara? That girl from class is coming in our direction. What's her name?....."

"Souma Kagura" Hanajima supplied quietly.

"Hey!!"

"Hello Souma-san, how are you today?"

"Great, I just finished eating lunch with Kyou! It was so fun!" Kagura gushed, and the two of the three girls sweatdropped. Hana-chan being well…..Hana-chan just sat there with a blank unmoving look on her face.

"Anyway, I just came be to say 'hi' since we're new in town and Honda-san happens to be in my class."

"We're all in your class…."

"…"

"Yeah…….Well, nice talking to you! I have to go now, my Kyou-kun needs me and Yuki-kun will be mad if I stayed too long. See you!" and with that said Kagura dashed back to the rest of the lounging Soumas and the bell rang for the end of lunch shortly after.

~.~.~.~ After school (I'm skipping! Muahaha, don't think that you would've enjoyed the dialogue of the teacher anyway.  ^_^0;) ~.~.~.~.~.~

*RIIINNGG!!!!*

"Yes! School is FINALLY over!"

"Yes, for today."

"You don't have to go to your part time job today right Tooru?"

"Nope, today I'm free."

"I don't have to work too! This is perfect! Let's go have some fun!"

"Okay" replied Tooru with an energetic smile. 'Sensei did work us hard today; I guess it would be okay to put off homework a little bit today. A once in a while treat for myself I guess.

"Oi Hana, you coming?"

"Yes." After casting a last suspicious look at the Jyuunishi gang's reseating forms Hana-chan walked a little faster to catch up with the ever impatient Uotani. She had a feeling that something was going to happen before the day is through. Something that involved her friends and the newcomers.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Yuki, are you guys ready? I want this to finish as soon as possible, the longer it drags out, the higher the risk of getting caught. I don't want any of you dead anytime soon so approach the target with caution."

"Hai Hatori" All the other Soumas replied as they geared up and got ready to do their duty. 

"Do we really have to do this?" Kagura muttered to herself.

"Yes" was Yuki's firm replied to her question. Then he added, "We have to."

"But….what if we get caught?"

"We won't" was said with more conviction than he felt.

"But at least Kyou-kun is coming with us!" beamed the girl as she shoved her foot into a black leather boot.

All she got in reply was an annoyed "Che..." from the boy mentioned.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

For some time now, another gang, other clan, The Serpents, have been targeting the Souma families and terrorizing their old neighborhood because long ago their own once prosperous business dealings had suffered under the hands of the Souma clan. The companies that once bought their wares from businesses ran by the Serpents in the past now turn to the Souma clan for business dealing. The change obviously didn't go well with the Kaidou clan (the clan that the Serpents belonged to) so they've decided to strike back with force on the Souma family and anyone…. anything that has any relation to them. It's started out with empty threats, then fist fights between the members of the families, afterwards escalated to stealing of family heirlooms and killing off members. The Serpents are out to destroy anything that brings the Souma family peace, their friends and neighbors alike suffered along with the rest of the town. The Souma's tried many ways to stop them, negotiations, and apologies, nothing worked. So now, in order to protect what is precious to them, the youngsters of the clan formed the Jyuunishi gang to match the gang that the Kaidous have raised. 

Under the guidance of Hatori, Shigure, and of course Akito, the oldest child of the head of the family, the others do their best to keep the opposition at bay. Their parents seem to be powerless to stop these threats for they cannot match the spirits and the emotions of the teenage Serpents who are eager to settle things themselves. Even going as far as recruiting people from school, the Souma's have no choice but to follow and build resistance in the same fashion. If not, then the Serpents will definitely kill them.

'This hateful ring' Yuki thought as he mounted his motorcycle. 'This sign, always following me wherever I go, reminding me of my duties.' The bike sped off with many more that followed it. 'The yellow band that reflects the sun in cheerful patterns while radiating sadness.' They all tore through the streets attracting attention. 'The silver that the others wore bores no better sign, beautiful the metal might be, but it's still cold as ice and gleams like tears.'

"Yuki-kun?"

"Huh?" The leader jerked himself out of his sorrowful thoughts that liked to swallow him at any chance available and glanced around at the company he held. Akisa rode on an ice blue bike beside him while Kagura and Kyou rode a few feet behind, Haru tagged along at the rear. 'That's right. I shouldn't let my mind wander right now. We have a mission at hand; today we need to get back the silver fan that belonged to a deceased relative. Very expensive it was too. I can't believe they've actually stolen it. More for us to do…' 

According to the information that Hatori gathered, the fan was being kept at Kaidou Tanaka's house. 'An elderly' Yuki thought amusingly 'a place where we would not have looked since it is quite a distance from the rest of the Kaidou family property. There will probably not be a whole lot of resistance since they won't be expecting us. All the better for us.'

"Umm…Yun-chan? You DO realize that that's the third red light you've ran through in the past fifteen minutes right?"

"NANI?!?" He was furious that he let his mind wander so much lately. "Why didn't you say something earlier?" he asked, slightly cross.

"Baka, you seem to be thinking really hard so we decided on not bothering you."

Angry at himself for the lack on concentration, Yuki turned he full attention to the road and stared intensely and their future destination. 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Will they be okay?"

"Stop worrying Kisa." Although they have Kagura and Kyou, which would give anyone sane a good reason to worry, "I believe that Yuki and Akisa will make sure that they get the job done. I don't know about Haru though…. He might fight with Kyou and make things worse… Nah, he's smart enough not to do that on a mission…..right?"

"Thank you Hiro, I feel much better now. I hope you're right."

"Gee, for their sake, I hope that I'm right too." He said with a hint of sarcasm.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Humm…."

"Na? Yun-chan, is something wrong?"

"I don't know yet, but it seems that that was a little too easy. I'm starting to get suspicious." 

He didn't voice the seed of doubt that kept on resided in the back of his head. There was no reason to needlessly worry the rest of the team when there was no proof to back up the doubt.    

Getting on his bike with the precious fan tucked away inside his trench coat Yuki kicked off to race down the nearly empty street with the other four in tow. Sadly, luck was not on their side; before their bikes had even consumed four blocks of cement and whatever-nots that the streets of Japan are usually paved with, three cars swiveled out of various alleys and pursued with vengeance.

"Kuso! Oi Yuki! We're being tailed!"

"Why are they tailing us? A mystery…"

"They won't catch us."

"Crap! The intersection!" Kyou gestured angrily at the streams of cars that lay ahead.

"Yun-chan, We'll have to run this red light if we're going to have any chances on losing them!"

A sudden sound came from behind Akisa as she turned around and a small but leathal bit of metal sailed pass veering off course only by a mere half foot.

"Yuki! They're shooting!"

"OMG!"

"Be careful! After this intersection we'll get a chance to lose them! Haiaku! The light's turning yellow already!"

Another few rounds were fired as the five sped towards the crowded intersection.

"OUCH! SHIT!"

"KYOU-KUN!!"

"Yuki!!! Kyou got shot!!"

"Damn" The violet leader swore quietly. Hatori never said anything about guns when he briefed the pale haired teen about the mission. 'The other gang never used guns before' he realized. 'The weapons used before this encounter was always knives and a sword or two… but never guns...damn' A small voice nagged in the back of his head, 'But you knew that something was wrong, but you didn't tell the rest of them. This is your fault, you could have at least given them a reason to stay alert'

As the intersection neared things went horribly wrong.

The light turned red and the 'walk' sign turned green while the gang, going far too fast to turn or stop, raced on forward and time dragged in Yuki's mind to make everything go in slow motion.    

Cars slowly came forward in his mind crossing from one side of the street to the other. People cross the intersection slowly, without haste nor worry, most of them smiling….

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"I'm late! I'm *late*!" 

Tooru ran lightly across the sidewalk gently weaving in and out of the passerbys. She promised to meet Uotani right after her job, they were going to visit Uotani's father in the hospital since he fell down the stairs drunk last night. The visiting hours were over at six; it was five-thirty and they still had a whole bus ride ahead of them. Even though Uotani never really respected her father for the kind of person he his, he is still he father and he was hurt.

The petite girl fidgeted slightly as she waited for the "walk" sign to turn green. 'I hope Uo-chan isn't too mad at me, after all, I *am* really late. I couldn't help it though; the old woman really needed help carrying her stuff. It's my fault that I chatted away and didn't notice the time until it was too late.'

The light finally turned green and she quickly started to cross her mind still lost in her thoughts. Then, she heard a noise getting louder and louder and Tooru looked up to see where it was coming from. As she turned her gaze, it was blinded by fear and her whole body shut down and her feet rooted themselves to the pavment.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"YUKI-KUN! YOU'RE GOING TO HIT HER!!!!!!!!"


	4. Tying of Fates

Author's Note: Oh my goodness!!!!! I'M BACK!!!!! The story lives! After a year and a half of hiatus, IT'S BACK! Thank you guys SO MUCH for all the reviews over the year. After this long, I thought that people would have already forgotten about this story, but no! I still got reviews asking for the next chapter. The chapter took so long because I had a writers block around the size of Mt. Everest. In truth I almost gave up, but you guys were so encouraging! Please review and tell me what you think! I will continue to do my best and turn out chapters as long as people want to read more of the story!!

So without further ado:

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

A Heart of Ice

By: Stardustangel

Chapter 4: Tying of Fates

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

Yuki stared hard at Tooru's frozen form and tried to will her to move even though he knew it was hopeless, the girl was petrified. Knowing that if he crashed into her, it would probably be the end for them both, at this point he was desperate for any ideas, his brain tried fast thinking. At the speed he was going, a sharp swerve, or any swerve for that matter would not be the wisest thing to try. 'But I can still turn a little… although it might not do any good… and...' Yuki winced as another bullet came rushing his way, thankfully missing. 'it seems that slowing down isn't an option either…' , he thought glumly 'we'll all just get shot.'

Then a nearly suicidal idea came up in his head.

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

"We're so screwed" muttered Kyou underneath his breath. How can so many things go wrong in so little time? His arm still stung like hell to boot. The bullet grazed deeply and blood was now flowing quite freely staining his dark orange motorcycle a deeper shade of color. He could also see that Kagura was very distracted by his injury. Even though he found her annoying at times, it really touched his heart that even in such a dangerous scenario; she was more worried about him than herself. 'It's really stupid though' he thought to himself, she could get shot and end up dead.

"Oi! Pay attention baka!"

The brown haired girl was jerked out of her worried thoughts by the bleeding boy's command.

"Stop worrying about me! I'll be fine; I've gotten worse injuries and pulled out just fine!"

Incredulous that Kyou was actually concerned enough about her to try and assure her that he was fine; she opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Yuki's shout.

'Right.' She thought to herself, surviving this ordeal is most important, 'Being distracted would only get more people hurt.' She then silently resolved to become a person that will protect Kyou instead of the one being worried over.

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

"Akisa! Cover me on my right! I'm going to try a sharp right but I need you to push me back into balance."

"Hai."

As the answer came, the pale girl pulled into position not a second too soon as they came upon the intersection and Yuki tilted towards her at an alarming angle. With Kyou and Kagura moving over to cover their backs, Yuki felt a big jump in their team work efforts.

'This is what family is about, absolute trust.'

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

Back on the traffic scene, Tooru let out a silent scream as the motorcycles neared. 'Is this going to be the end Okasaan? Am I going to finally be able to see you again?'

Then she felt herself falling as something hit her, falling and falling, it seemed like forever as her mind raced in hyper speed. The gentle girl's head hit something hard and Tooru plunged into darkness then knew no more.

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

"YUKI!" Kagura shrieked.

The motorcycle did, for the most part, miss the young pedestrian, but the front wheel of the black motorbike grazed the foot of the said girl and she slumped forward out of pain onto Yuki, more precisely, between Yuki and his dashboard. The poor girl was knocked unconscious by the shock to her midsection as she impacted the bike hard on her stomach and the sudden rush of blood to her head as she was draped unceremoniously onto Yuki.

"CRAP!" Yuki cursed, much outside his normal persona, as the girl's impact of him caused him to almost swerve straight into Akisa who was riding beside him. He barely saved himself from total-demolition-caused-by-hazardous-driving-and-impact-upon-another-human-being the second time in the space of seconds by sheer will. Well, that and good arm muscles.

'Good, atleast she's knocked out. All the better for us' Akisa thought to herself as soon as she realized that she wasn't about to be splattered onto the concrete. Then she got to work.

Akisa pushed, with great difficulty, Yuki back to a less acute angle enough so that he could regain his carefully cultured balance.

The grave but relieved expression on Yuki's face told her that the worst part perhaps hasn't passed yet. True that the girl and Yuki have successfully avoided a collision that almost guaranteed death to the participants, but now the said girl was unconscious on Yuki's dashboard and they couldn't just leave her without knowing how severe her injuries really are.

'This was _not_ how she planned her new school year out to be' she thought sighing. Akisa realized that with the current circumstances, they would be forced to bring her back to Shigure's house where Shigure, Hatori, Hiro, and Kisa would certainly be waiting for their return.

‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾.‾

The rest of the journey home was thankfully less eventful as the weary group finally pulled wearily into Shigure's yard. Upon turning off the motor of her bike, Kagura quickly hopped off and ran to assist Kyou, who vehemently protested against the offered hand, as expected.

While Kagura was fussing over Kyou, Haru and Akisa had both calmly dismounted their respective motorcycles and walked to Yuki's side to offer help in carrying one very unconscious Tooru into the house. The help however was unnecessary for Hatori had already gathered the poor girl in his arms and was half way to the house, thus relieving Yuki of his duties. The band finally made their way inside to where a very worried Kisa and a glaring Hiro was residing.

"Nii-san! Nee-chan! You guys all made it back safely, I'm so relieved." Kisa let out the tension that had racked her body when the group had not returned as early as she had hoped. Looking at her slightly ragged cousins, Kisa realized that something must have gone fairly wrong. Then there was that girl who Hatori had carried away, who was she? Hiro's clipped, sharp, tone cut through her contemplation.

"What did you guys think you were doing?" Hiro demanded; Kisa, he knew, had to be worried sick even if she tried her best not to show it.

"We were detained by the Serpants, and this time, they had _guns_." Yuki replied sharply as he left for his room and left the explaining to the other members. He would check on the girl later, right now, he need time to be alone. The stakes of this sickening game has been upped yet again. How much longer could they hold out, he didn't know.

Haru trained his eyes on Yuki's retreating back then let his gaze sweep to Kagura who was now trying to bandage Kyou's hand with Shigure poking fun at them both. Hatori chose this moment to open the door and enter.

"How is the girl?" Kagura piped, looking up from her elaborate work of art that was Kyou's bandaged arm.

"Better, although we would have to wait out a day to rule out all head trauma" Hatori replied somewhat grimly. "The question is still, however" Hatori continued, "what are we going to do with her once she regains her conscious. We can't very well just send her back home and pray that she doesn't ask questions and blab about the event."

"It's not everyday a girl get mowed down by a motorbike." Shigure add his two cents to the conversation jokingly. "We do owe her at least a partial explanation." He finished on a more serious tone.

"It's too dangerous to tell her anything!" Hiro interjected, "In any event, it was her own fault for not watching where she was going. Absentmindedly crossing the street like that, she was practically asking to be run over. Silly girl."

"Hiro-kun!" Kisa gasped out in mild horror. "That's not a nice thing to say about her." She fidgeted slightly and looked down at her hands in her lap, "everyone has their own moments of carelessness…" Finishing with a slight bowing of head, Kisa wondered if she had said too much.

Rebuked, Hiro silently got up walked out of the room full of occupants who were now staring at Kisa and him; he had upset Kisa yet again. 'Will I ever make her happy?'

Kisa raised her head at the sound of someone exiting and her eyes widened at Hiro's absence and she quickly rose to her feet to follow his sound of his receding footsteps.

The rest of the group watched in silent morbid fascination.

"In any event, back to the topic on hand." Hatori said in an attempt to lure all attention back on him as to give the young couple a reprieve. "We still haven't decided on what to do with this girl."

"Honda Tooru"

People looked at Kagura who was looking at Hatori who blinked at her. "Her name is Honda Tooru, she's from our class. I went over to say hello during lunch today, remember?" She glanced at her cousins who then in turn all nodded their heads slightly in agreement. "She has two close friends, I didn't catch their names, and she seems to always be so cheerful. That's all I know." Kagura finished with a slight flourish.

"Hmm… She's in your classes? That complicates things…"

"Oh! And she also sits next to Yuki-kun too!!" Kagura added.

"Oh?" A thoughtful look from Shigure prompt others to look semi-thoughtful too.

Now it was Yuki's turn to be stared at.

Yuki merely stared back.

"We keep her."

The quiet yet firm voice of Haru cut short the staring contest abruptly.

"But …" Kagura started.

"Absolutely not!" Kyou cut in. "What can she do? She'll just be a liability, that's all. Then we'll all have to go rescue her when she gets caught."

"She can be a spy on occasion. She's unassuming enough and has an innocent air about her. The Serpents will never know that she's with us." Akisa spoke up to defend the currently unconscious girl.

"No."

Everyone looked at Yuki once again as he finally spoke up. "No, we can't drag her into this. She's too innocent."

"I agree with you Yuki, but in this matter, we have to choice. We need a gurarntee that she won't talk. We make her one of us." Hatori looked at Yuki meaningfully, "You will be her partner in the initiation trial."

Now everybody including Yuki stared hard at Hatori (there seems to be lotsa staring going around). Most people had expected Kagura to be her partner.

"This settles it" Hatori continued disregarding all the looks that he got, "I will now go inform Akito-san about the new development while Yuki makes the preparations." He started to walk out then paused and turned back around, "Kagura, please inform Honda-san about this when she awakens tomorrow. Thank you."

With Hatori gone, the rest of the Jyunnishi looked at each other and wonder what the heck would happen next.


End file.
